Woman’s statement describes hazing and harassment at The Citadel

BRUCE SMITHFebruary 15, 1997

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ One of the female cadets who left The Citadel says male cadets barged into her room wearing little clothing, forced her to serenade their girlfriends and made sexual comments about her.

A 230-page deposition given by Jeanie Mentavlos and released Friday describes the harassment she says she received from males at the state-supported military school.

Ms. Mentavlos, who dropped out in January, said she and Kim Messer were singled out for harsh treatment by upperclassmen and she did not feel comfortable telling even a female military officer.

``All of these people were, like, connected. So there was nobody I could go to. No matter who I went to it was like, them against me,″ she said.

Ms. Mentavlos said one male cadet would enter her room in the middle of the night and she would have to jump out of bed at attention in her bicycle shorts and T-shirt.

She said another male cadet routinely came into her room wearing nothing but boxer shorts. Others entered the women’s rooms when the female cadets had just returned from showers and were wearing only bathrobes, she said.

Ms. Mentavlos said she had to get down on her knees and sing ``You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling″ to the girlfriends of male cadets.

Two of the four women who entered the formerly all-male school in September remain enrolled. One of the those women, Petra Lovetinska, was upset because Ms. Mentavlos and Ms. Messer were singled out for abuse, Ms. Mentavlos said.

``She was crying, really crying, and saying she couldn’t understand why I was catching all this hell and she wasn’t getting anything,″ the statement said.

Disciplinary hearings are scheduled for next week against 10 male cadets accused of harassing the women.